ShadowBound: The Need For Power - Chapter 53: You Better Prove Your Worth

Li Yanchu transmigrated into a strange world of martial arts, Daoist spells, ghosts, and monsters, only to land in the body of a young Daoist at the rundown Qingyun Temple. Just across the street? A rowdy inn run by a stunningly seductive innkeeper. Life could be worse.Gifted with the mysterious Decree of Bestowal, Li Yanchu can transform ordinary herbs into century-old divine medicine, giving him an unparalleled advantage in cultivation. With this cheat-like ability, he advances rapidly in cultivation, despite being told he had no talent for it.But cultivation isn’t his only path forward.After slaying a ghost and earning merit points, he realizes there’s more to this world than martial arts. Hidden behind the scenes is a karma-based system, one that rewards righteous deeds.As his saber technique grows sharper by the day, Li Yanchu finds himself entangled in eerie mysteries, deadly encounters, and strange happenings in Wei City…Now, with the authorities pounding on his doors, Li Yanchu’s peaceful days of tea and training might just be over.Ghosts. Bandits. Cultivation. A cheat system tied to karma. When the mortal world and the supernatural collide, only one Daoist stands between chaos and order.

Transmigrated, Qi Huan became the daughter of an exiled criminal.With only a thatched cottage at the start, it collapsed before long…Fortunately, she was bound to a powerful express delivery system.As long as she did good deeds and accumulated points, she could achieve free delivery!More surprisingly, her neighbor, the waste prince, turned out to be a point farming bug —Helping others +1 point.Helping the waste prince +100 points.From then on, she treated the waste prince as a point farming tool.…But became the waste prince’s one and only intimate person.Once abolished, falling from the clouds into the mud, people avoided him like snakes and scorpions.Only Qi’s little girl always had a bright smile as she sidled up to him.Offering free help without reason, she must be up to no good!At first, Li Shuchen maintained full vigilance.…Later, he gave all his tenderness to her.She opened restaurants and taverns, and he silently protected her;As her chain stores and industry expanded, he became her strong backup;When she donated supplies and did good deeds, he accompanied her.When she came of marriageable age, he proposed with betrothal gifts and a phoenix coronet, welcoming her in full ceremonial attire.From then on, the inner palace had no concubines, only doting on the one.

How long would a marriage be able to sustain itself when it had nothing to do with love? Then how would a marriage based merely on power and a monetary transaction be able to last?

The person in Shang Yushang’s embrace was his male wife. A temporary wife that was bought to get rid of bad luck. But ever since the moment he had this person in his arms, he decided not to let go of him.

He Changning obeyed his so-called family’s decision and married himself off. Thinking that, when this transaction was over, he can live his own life happily ever after. But, little did he know that he had just stepped into a big net filled with warmth that was specially woven for him, and that he would never have a chance to get out of it.

- Description from Novelupdates

In a world where Lycans and werewolves are sworn enemies, Eve Valmont is a werewolf cursed by a prophecy and framed. Betrayed by her own pack and imprisoned for years, her fate takes a darker twist when she is offered to the Lycan King, Hades Stavros—a ruler feared for his ruthless conquests and deadly prowess. Bound by an ancient prophecy and haunted by the ghosts of her past, Eve is now at the mercy of the one being she should hate and fear the most—The Hand of Death himself.Hades, a king carved from blood and his own soul's decay, determined to avenge his family's slaughter and rid his people of the werewolves. He believes Eve is the key to his victory. To him, she is nothing but weapon foretold by prophecy, a tool he will wield to destroy the opposing forces threatening his pack. Yet, he finds himself craving this powerful yet broken woman. Leaving him questioning if she is truly his weapon or the one destined to unravel his carefully laid plans.***He stalked toward me, a predator closing in on its prey, his eyes dark and unreadable. “So, you laugh?” His voice was low, dangerously soft, making the hairs on the back of my neck stand up.I swallowed hard, suddenly aware of how difficult it had become to breathe. “Hades, I—”“But you only laugh at other men's jokes,” he interrupted, his gaze piercing, devoid of any humor. “Not your husband's.” The accusation in his tone was sharp, slicing through the air between us.A nervous chuckle escaped me. “You can't be serious... He’s your beta, for Goddess’ sake.”In an instant, he closed the distance between us, so fast it left me breathless. His hands gripped my waist, pulling me flush against his body, the heat of him making my skin tingle. I gasped, but before I could say a word, his lips crashed onto mine, claiming my mouth with a force that sent shockwaves through me. The kiss was punishing, hungry—I couldn't breathe, couldn't think.When he finally pulled back, I was trembling, my chest heaving as I struggled to regain my breath. His eyes, dark and stormy, searched mine with a possessive intensity. “You can’t laugh at my jokes...” he whispered, his voice a dangerous rasp as his fingers trailed lower, sending a shiver down my spine, “but you’ll come with my fingers.”I shivered, heat pooling low in my belly at his words, his touch. The world around us blurred, fading into nothing as his hand slipped lower, drawing a ragged gasp from my lips. The look in his eyes told me he knew exactly what he was doing to me, and there was no denying the primal connection between us in that moment.“I don’t need your laughter,” he murmured against my skin, his breath hot on my neck. “I’ll have every other part of you instead.”